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In 1998, several scenes from Sex and the City made the rabbit vibrator famous. Now it is a cult sex toy. However, the secret of the success of the "rabbits" is not only in successful PR. mantang sex toy factory told us what made the device so popular, why visitors to intimate boutiques still ask for a toy “like Charlotte’s” and how to use the “rabbit” vibrator for their own pleasure.

In December 2021, the sequel to the Sex and the City series was released . After the first series, Peloton's shares plummeted : one of the heroes of the series died while exercising on the company's exercise bike. It's not the first time that Sex and the City has affected the global market: in August 1998, several scenes from the series were made famous by bunny vibrators.

Bright, soft to the touch, decorated with a figure of a funny animal - a turtle or a bunny. Miranda from Sex and the City liked the rabbit vibrator even before this toy became mainstream. “In my opinion, I fell in love,” she admitted to her friends, “and I know for sure that I will get an orgasm during the next sex. Who among you can boast of the same? The rest of the characters looked at each other. There was silence at the table in the New York cafe, and then the whole four burst out laughing.

The toy appeared in episode 9 of the first season. Frame: series Sex and The City

Then Miranda persuaded Charlotte, the most conservative of the four women, to try the "rabbit". Suddenly, the girl was so captivated by the device that she began to skip parties with her friends and stay at home for a long time. Then the rest of the girls carried out "Operation" Rabbit "": they came to Charlotte's house and confiscated the toy. Miranda justified herself: “I thought you could handle it!”.

The toy in the series was shown ambiguously: on the one hand, it brings pleasure, and on the other, it acted on Charlotte like a drug.

How did women discover rabbit vibrators?

The fact that vibrators do not cause addiction, Carol Queen and Joanie Blank knew for sure. At the time that Sex and the City episode aired, both women were working at Good Vibrations, one of the first feminist sex shops in the world. 

Joanie, a sexologist by trade, opened the shop in 1977. It was tiny: as sex researcher Lynn Komela writes in Vibrator Nation, “no bigger than a parking space.” There was a small rack of sex toys in the store, and literature about female sexuality next to it. It was in this vibrator shop that "Joanie Blank helped shape what would later be called sex-positive feminism," she writes.

Joanie saw the store as a sex education site. She held master classes in it on the topic of orgasm, where she talked about the benefits of masturbation. Without embarrassment, Joanie explained how to stimulate yourself to reach the peak, and what vibrators can help with this. Sex toys have helped some women experience orgasms for the first time in their lives.

The rabbit vibrator made its way to Good Vibrations and other adult stores in the US in the 1980s. It was brought from Japan by Vibratex. Clients of Good Vibrations and other feminist sex shops pioneered this toy.

“I have always liked sex, but only with a vibrator did I understand what an orgasm is. I never had it in all the years of marriage ... Now I can enjoy my body, ”

wrote one customer in a thank you note to feminist sex shop Eve's Garden.

How did the "rabbit" wake up famous?

The morning after the sex toy was shown on Sex and the City, Good VIbrations employee Carol Queen was in for a surprise. When Carol approached the store, she found that there was a line in front of him. Everyone was interested in the vibrator that Charlotte from the series liked so much.

“I'm pretty sure we sold out all the bunnies that day. With Sex and the City, bunny vibrators have come out of the shadows."

 Queen said  to researcher Lynn Comella.

It was 1998. In Japan, the country where the "rabbits" were produced, they did not know that the local invention was shown on American television. Representatives of the company Vibratex, which sold Japanese "rabbits" in the US, knew that their toy would be shown on HBO, but did not know when exactly this would happen.

“We didn’t even have HBO. One of the clients sent us a recording of the episode on VHS tape, and only then did we watch it,”

 Lynn Komele, vice president of Vibratex, Shay Martin, admitted .

Why did the “rabbit” vibrator conquer women?

Vibratex toys were different from the typical vibrators and dildos of the time. The company occupied the niche of "cute" sex toys. Most of the devices had a realistic penis-like design and "the unappetizing color of a raw hot dog,"   Shay Martin explained to British Cosmopolitan.

However, Japan passed a law  banning  the production of "lewd" toys. Local producers began to circumvent the ban by disguising dildos as cute massagers.

So, not rubber members with streaks and scrotum arrived from Japan to the USA, but ... beavers, turtles and "rabbits" on a thick stick.

In 1983, the beaver, rabbit, kangaroo, and turtle vibrators debuted on the American market. Each toy had a vaginal process, shaped like a penis, and a clitoral for external stimulation. Funny figures on the latter helped to circumvent the ban on debauchery, and at the same time stimulated the head of the clitoris.

One of the first rabbit vibrators from Vibratex. The device ran on batteries and was controlled by a remote control.

Charlotte from the series was persuaded to buy just the appearance of the vibrator. As the camera zoomed in on a pink Vibratex toy with a “bunny” on the clitoral process, the heroine was delighted: “How cute! I thought he would be incomprehensible and scary, but he is not like that at all. He's pink! For girls!”

After the episode aired on American television, sales of "bunny" vibrators "blew through the roof,"  wrote  sex researcher Karen Boyle. In the years since the introduction of the bunny vibrator on Sex and the City, average annual sales of Vibratex  have jumped  over 700%. However, the reason for the success is not only that the vibrator was shown on television: Vibratex say that in general they have changed their marketing strategy a lot. However, the company admits that it is thanks to the series that their flagship toy has become a cult.

If Charlotte decided to buy the "rabbit" because of its color, then many viewers tried the "rabbit" because of Charlotte herself. This heroine is the most modest in the series. At the same time, she did not hesitate to go to an intimate store (in those days, women mostly ordered sex toys through catalogs) and decided on her first vibrator.

“I think it has allowed a lot of women to say to themselves, ‘Phew, order. I can have this experience and not feel judged,” 

Shay Martin said  .

How do modern "rabbit" vibrators work?

Interestingly, in almost 40 years of existence, Vibratex has not introduced radical changes to the range. This brand still produces "rabbits", very similar to the model from the series, but in an improved version.

The company hasn't even changed the material the toy is made of - it's still thermoplastic rubber, not medical grade silicone like most toys today. Silicone devices are much  easier to care for , and thermoplastic rubber in 2021 is used mainly inside masturbators, where a very elastic material is needed.

The main change in the “rabbit” from Vibratex of the 21st century is the control system: if earlier a cord with a remote control was sticking out of the toy, now the modes can be switched using the buttons on the toy itself.

The idea of ??double stimulation was picked up by other brands in the US, Asia and Europe. Now every sex shop sells many models of "rabbit" vibrators, and they are produced by different companies.

A good modern "rabbit" has several differences from the model used by Charlotte. Firstly, it is charged from a battery, not from batteries: it is both more environmentally friendly and more convenient to use. There is nothing more annoying than having an orgasm "bummer" due to the fact that the batteries in the vibrator are dead!

Secondly, many "rabbits" are now waterproof - you can take them with you in the shower or even immerse them in the bath (did you know that the vibration feels different underwater?).

Thirdly, many toys have additional features.

• Heating. In winter, sales of toys with this function are especially growing. Why does a toy need such a feature? Entering a warm vibrator is just nice! It also helps to relax the muscles, and penetration is smoother. From luxury toys with a heating function, you can pay attention to Svakom Angel, from budget ones - to MoyToy Maccia H. Both toys are narrow in diameter and are suitable for those who rarely have penetrative sex.

• Additional vacuum stimulation. In this case, instead of vibration on the clitoris, the toy makes "sucking" movements. The most famous vibrator with this feature is Satisfyer's Pro G Spot Rabbit. A more expensive, but also more advanced version with powerful motors is the Womanizer Duo.

• Mobile phone control. With such a device, you can play at any distance from your partner, even on different continents. An example of such a "rabbit" is the Satisfyer Mono Flex.

Perhaps the biggest technical breakthrough so far is that anatomically versatile "bunnies" are appearing on the market. What does it mean?

The appearance of the genitals of each person is unique. The distance from the clitoris to the entrance to the vagina is also different. Therefore, before buying a rabbit, it is important to find out your parameters with a ruler, and then compare them with the length of the clitoral process on the toy. Measuring in front of a mirror how far your clitoris is from your vagina to buy a bunny is just as logical as knowing your bust before choosing a bra.

You can do without measurements if you take the Nova 2 vibrator from We-Vibe. The process of this toy is so flexible that it falls on any clitoris. But if you are looking for a toy with vacuum stimulation, it is better to find out your parameters, because the bell from a non-contact stimulator must exactly wrap around the head of the clitoris in order to give you pleasure.

Can "rabbit" be addictive?

British researcher Theona Attwood  wrote that the "rabbit" is "the most visible modern sign of active female sexuality." This vibrator today is one of the symbols of sex emancipation. It is because of him that many women first decided to come to the adult store and buy something for their pleasure. Like all sex toys, the "rabbit" is not addictive: the diagnosis of "addiction to sex toys" is not in the DSM V and ICD-10 disease classifications.

There is a myth that the nerve endings “roughen” from the vibrator, and the sensitivity decreases. The first thing to do if you think that your sensitivity has “decreased from the vibrator” is to charge the toy. When the battery runs out, the toy will work weaker, so you start using stronger modes.It is normal for our body to form habits. Everyone has a natural, habitual position for sleeping or sitting at a computer. In the same way, we get used to those ways of masturbation that bring the most pleasure. Achieving orgasm in a different way can be more difficult. But any habit is reversible.

If you start to worry about being addicted to a toy, offer your body other ways of stimulation: torment yourself for a long time on small vibration modes, alternate hands and device, try to stimulate the clitoris through the fabric of your underwear. Your body will respond to different modalities if you use them.

But what if after the “rabbit” you don’t want to have sex with people?

The heroines of Sex and the City discussed whether the vibrator-"rabbit" could compete with the "real man." In fact, sex with yourself and with another person are different and full-fledged types of pleasure. They can also be combined: the “rabbit” can be passed into the hands of a partner or partner and allowed to be stimulated. The toy can be used anally - the clitoral process remains outside and does not allow the vaginal to dive too deep.

With the "rabbit" you can get an orgasm through the stimulation of the head of the clitoris, during penetrative sex, or a combination of both. It is no coincidence that now many vibrators have the function of turning off one of the processes: if you want, you stimulate only the head of the clitoris, then you use it during penetrative sex, and when you get close to orgasm, you connect both processes at once. You can play this game by your own rules.

How to use a rabbit vibrator to have fun?

• Before you buy a "rabbit", measure the distance from the top of the clitoris to the entrance to the vagina. The consultant in the store will tell you if the selected model is suitable for your parameters.

• Use a vibrator with lube - especially the part you're dipping in. The silicone "bunny" is not suitable for silicone-based lubricants, as they spoil the material of the toy. Opt for water-based or hybrid lube.

• Test the toy in an excited state. Start masturbating the way you are used to: with your favorite fantasies, porn, familiar stimulation with your hand or an old toy. If you are aroused, familiarity with the vibrator will go much more smoothly. Do not hurry!

• Let yourself try the device. The first impression is not the most important. Play with the "rabbit" on different days of the cycle - perhaps your sensitivity is changing under the influence of hormonal changes. Try different modes and strength of the vibrator.

• Experiment . For example, "Rabbits" can be used for anal stimulation! Important: if you want to use the toy both anally and vaginally, put a condom on the "rabbit" during anal play, so as not to transfer bacteria to the vagina.